9 gifts for bakers, or for making your own holiday treats

Originally published December 6, 2017 at 6:00 am
Updated December 1, 2017 at 3:20 pm

Copper bowls, sleek mixers and fun gadgets to make the season bright for bakers.

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By Kim Cook

The Associated Press

If you’ve got home bakers on your holiday gift list, there are plenty of attractive and functional items on the market to help them whip up delectable goodies.

Canadian artisan Brenda Watts, on Prince Edward Island, makes French rolling pins out of flame birch. Her Cattails Woodwork French Rolling Pins ($49 each at etsy.com/shop/CattailsWoodwork) look like freshly baked baguettes, and are as decorative as they are useful. Order by Monday for holiday delivery.

“I believe that beautiful things made from wood can have a purpose beyond what pleases the eye,” she says. “They should bring pleasure in use.”

Lisa Van Riper, in Erie, Pennsylvania, also crafts rolling pins. Her Humble Elephant Embossing Rolling Pins($39.50 at etsy.com/shop/HumbleElephant) are made of maple, and are embossed to roll out patterns such as flowers, hearts, leaves or farm animals.

Sur La Table’s Silicone Pastry Mat($20 at Sur La Table) has printed-on measurements for pie crusts, cookies and other baked treats, making it easy to form or dollop out consistently sized doughs. And it rolls up for easy storage.

Bake a handy take-along treat with one of Norpro’s Cakesicle Pans($18.50 at amazon.com), which comes with a set of wooden sticks.

For bakers in tight working spaces, without room for big stand mixers and other countertop gear, consider giving the powerful KitchenAid 9-Speed Hand Mixer ($100 at Macy’s). Available in silver, black, white or red, it comes with beaters, dough hooks, whisks and blending rods, so you can mix, knead, whip and blend with one appliance. A storage bag keeps everything corralled.